Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 249 Puppet

There is a sacred pool on Jiming Mountain, and the Li family needs to send someone to guard it.

Li Chengsu volunteered to stay and guard this place for ten years.

The reason why Li Xiangming was so respectful to Li Chengsu was twofold: firstly, the latter had indeed made great contributions during the war years, and secondly, the latter's strength was exceptionally outstanding.

Although Li Chengsu was unable to establish his foundation, he was once a promising talent that the Li family had been focusing on cultivating.

At that time, the Li family had just fled here, had few cultivators, and had not yet re-established a complete family system.

Therefore, Li Chengsu received a great deal of resources from his family.

His magical skills, magical artifacts, talismans, and various hidden methods far surpass those of the current generation of prodigies.

Therefore, Li Xiangming might not necessarily be able to defeat the old man in front of him.

Seeing Li Xiangming's cautious attitude, Granny Lai and the others exchanged strange glances and held their breath in front of Li Chengsu.

Li Chengsu turned to look at these outsiders and shook his head slightly. He did not agree with giving up Jiming Mountain, but since it was the family's decision, he had nothing to say.

"Come with me."

Li Chengsu's voice was deep and powerful, showing no signs of old age. He slowly climbed the mountain, with Li Xiangming and the others following closely behind.

Soon, the group arrived at a steep rock face at the foot of the mountain.

With a wave of Li Chengsu's hand, the formation dissipated, revealing a crack in the stone wall large enough for one person to pass through.

After walking for a while, the group arrived at a cold pool.

The cold pool shimmered with light, emitting wisps of steam.

The spiritual energy here is far more concentrated than in the outside world.

"It truly is a spirit pool!"

Grandma Lai was overjoyed and scooped up the pool water several times, feeling its coolness and refreshing essence.

The others were no exception, walking around the spirit pool to check the amount of spiritual energy there.

Seeing this, Li Chengsu shook his head again and walked out.

Li Xiangming watched him leave without saying anything. He knew that Li Chengsu had lived in this place for ten years, and it was inevitable that some feelings would develop.

How can one feel about handing it over to someone else now?
But all of this is for the sake of the family's interests.

Li Xiangming turned around and looked at Granny Lai and the others: "I wonder if everyone is satisfied?"

"satisfy."

Everyone nodded in agreement. For them, who were independent cultivators, having a spiritual place to cultivate was a dream come true.

Moreover, it is a spiritual pool brimming with spiritual energy.

Even Zhang Can couldn't stop smiling. He had been somewhat nostalgic about Xiaolan Valley, but now all his worries had vanished.

"Since you are satisfied, I am relieved."

Li Xiangming smiled and said, "But there are some things I must say upfront: Jiming Mountain belongs to the Li family. This was true before today, and it will remain true after today. This cannot be changed."

"However, considering that the five of you do not have a temple, my Li family is willing to lend it to you."

"Since it's a loan, there should be a rent. My Li family is generous and will only charge 500 spirit stones a year. What do you think?"

"Five spirit stones?"

Granny Lai and the others were a little agitated. 500 spirit stones, when divided equally, amounted to 100 spirit stones a year.

Everyone present was a Qi Refining Level 9 cultivator, so they could certainly afford it.

But this isn't a one-off deal; it requires annual payments.

If someone goes into seclusion for three to five years, and then has to pay three to five hundred spirit stones when they come out, who can afford that?
Seeing that everyone was hesitant, Li Xiangming was not in a hurry. He sat cross-legged to the side and closed his eyes to rest.

Seeing this, Granny Lai and the others frantically communicated with each other using their spiritual senses.

After a long pause, Xie Daoren stepped forward and asked, "Fellow Daoist Li, 500 spirit stones is indeed too much. Considering that Fellow Daoist Lai helped you before, I wonder if the number of spirit stones could be reduced?"

Li Xiangming opened his eyes, glanced at him, and said coldly, "If it weren't for Fellow Daoist Lai's sake, do you think 500 spirit stones could rent a spirit pool?"

Master Xie blushed slightly and remained speechless.

He wasn't completely ignorant of the market; 500 spirit stones couldn't even rent a spirit pool, let alone a spirit spring.

They were able to come to Jiming Mountain thanks to Grandma Lai.

Seeing that Master Xie's attempt had failed, the others dared not mention reducing the spirit stones again. It was the corpse-driver who suddenly spoke up: "Could other items be used to offset the spirit stones?"

Li Xiangming glanced at him, his expression softening slightly: "Of course, but it must be something of value and approved by the Li family before it can be used as a discount."

Upon hearing this, Granny Lai and the others exchanged another thought.

In the end, the five of them made up their minds and decided to rent Jiming Mountain for 500 spirit stones a year.

"Now that we've agreed on the rent, let's talk about the deposit."

Li Xiangming's voice rang out again, a calm smile on his face: "Deposit of 1000 spirit stones, no bargaining."

"Five spirit stones?"

"Is there a deposit?"

This caused a stir among Grandma and the others.

Zhang Can's face flushed red as he glared angrily at Li Xiangming: "Your Li family shouldn't go too far."

Li Xiangming ignored him, his gaze sweeping over the crowd as he asked in a deep voice, "Everyone, ask yourselves honestly, do you trust the Li family?"

The five people were stunned, looking at each other, unsure how to answer.

"Hehe, I know that even if you don't tell me."

Li Xiangming sneered: "By the same token, the Li family cannot completely trust you. You are not locals, and there are five of you. What if one of you has a conflict, or someone loses their mind and digs up the spirit pool? Who will the Li family complain to?"

"you"

Zhang Can was speechless at Li Xiangming's words. His face turned red, and he couldn't refute them.

The other independent cultivators also looked aggrieved. They cherished the spiritual land more than anyone else and would never dare to damage the spiritual pool.

But no matter how eloquently they spoke, the Li family had only two words in their minds: disbelief.

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

No one expected that a huge deposit would be required before renting the Lingtan.

The key issue is that they simply cannot afford to pay this deposit.

Just then, the corpse driver stepped forward again and took out an exquisite wooden box from his pocket.

The wooden box is long and narrow, about two palm-lengths in length, and is made entirely of fine mahogany, resembling a jewelry box.
As soon as the corpse-driver touched it, the wooden box suddenly exploded, and the broken pieces of wood, guided by the silk threads, instantly pieced together into a half-person-high humanoid wooden puppet.

The wooden puppet tilted its head, its empty eyes sweeping across the surrounding stone walls.

With a slight turn of its arm, it shot out like an arrow, crashing into the stone wall with a deafening roar.

Li Xiangming's expression was solemn. The attack he had just delivered, which carried a fiery talisman, was powerful enough to injure cultivators in the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refining.

The wooden puppet's main body is nothing more than an inconspicuous wooden box. It makes very little noise when it attacks, but its attack speed is astonishing.

From assembly to the explosion of the explosive talisman, it only takes two or three breaths.

Is this the art of mechanical puppetry?
Although the use of mechanical puppets may not be widespread in actual combat.

But if you have the advantage of terrain and set up an ambush in advance, isn't this thing much more powerful than any formation?
Imagine what a terrifying scene it would be if dozens of explosive talismans suddenly exploded around you?

Li Xiangming grew increasingly pleased with the sight, but remained outwardly composed as he inquired, "What is this fellow Daoist's intention?"

The corpse-driver looked at Li Xiangming and said, "If I can make 100 such puppets for your Li family within a year, can I offset the deposit?"

Li Xiangming pondered for a moment, constantly weighing the pros and cons.

After a moment, he shook his head and slowly said, "100 bodies are not enough, we need 200!"

These small puppets are not very effective on their own; you have to concentrate your firepower to make the most of them.

100 bodies are certainly a lot, but if we deduct 1000 spirit stones, the price per body is 10 spirit stones.

In Li Xiangming's personal opinion, this price is not too expensive.

However, using 1000 spirit stones to buy 100 unexpected puppets is not in the Li family's best interest.

If we can import two hundred of them, the price of each puppet will drop to five spirit stones.

Then the deal would seem worthwhile, and the Li family would be more willing to accept it.

However, Li Xiangming's suggestion silenced the corpse-driver.

Creating two hundred puppets is no easy task.

(End of this chapter)